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Posted by Barbara Pytel May 13, 2006 |
Schools are under so much pressure to utilize instructional time wisely. Every minute should count toward improving educational progress. Should time be allowed for students to socialize on the internet? Some in Congress want to make sure that websites like MySpace.com are given no access during school time.
The Danger
MySpace.com has been under a dark cloud lately after repeated cases showing that predators are lurking on the site pretending to be other teenagers. In April of 2006, a Connecticut man lured a 13-year-old girl to a hotel room. In Long Island, four men were arrested for solicitng sex with a 13-year old girl--except she turned out to be an undercover police detective. Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick (R-PA), a father of six children, has introduced a bill to prohibit anyone under 18 from accessing MySpace.com on school or library computers.
What Is My Space.com?
MySpace.com is an internet site that allows teenagers to create their own web pages and share personal messages, bios and photos with others. The teenagers assume they are sharing with other teenagers. However, it has been proven that often they are sharing information with child molesters and could even be endangering their lives. MySpace.com has often received criticism for objectionable material in the form of language and photos.
MySpace.com, which is based out of Santa Monica, CA, has recently been working with security and law enforcement to address safety concerns.
How Popular Is It?
MySpace.com had about 68.8 million visitors in April of 2006. In the past year, the hits to MySpace.com have tripled. It is one of the top 10 visited sites on the internet.
While the majority of visitors to MySpace.com are probably teenagers looking for social interactions, parents need to know what their children are doing on the internet. Kids could be way in over their heads and be at-risk.
For protection software, visit Internet Predators.
Read previous articles on Educational Issues.